my journey with the barefoot horse

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About Me

My name is Linda Chamberlain. I am a journalist and writer and I have ridden all my life. About 15 years ago a friend gave me a book that set me on a new journey – one that didn’t involve horse shoes.

This obscure veterinary work by a German vet was a shocking exposure of the harm caused by nailing a piece of metal onto a moving part of the horse and from that moment I had to find a new way. Barefoot. It wasn’t easy because removing your horse’s shoes is only the beginning. The barefoot horse needs a lot of care to become sound and strong like his wild cousins. He does better with a radically different lifestyle – he needs his freedom. And so now all of my horses live out in a herd all year round. None of them have shoes and all of them are ridden.

In this blog, I will tell the story of my journey through a hostile and traditional horse world. You will see how I overcame lameness that was threatening our horses when they were shod and I will give you tips to help you achieve barefoot too.

Occasionally, I will talk to you about my writing as my debut novel, The First Vet, is out now on Amazon and Kindle! It’s a story of love and corruption inspired by the work of Bracy Clark, the English vet who exposed the damage caused by metal shoeing 200 years ago. He was a man ahead of his time; against whips, spurs and strong bits but his research into shoeing was suppressed by the corrupt veterinary establishment. It’s being rediscovered now! If you care about horses support my campaigning blog and buy the book. Share it with your friends. It’s a book that could help change the world for the horse.

Hi Linda, I love your website – my next book is about trekking along the Bicentennial National Trail with 5 horses and my husband (no support vehicle) for several months. I plan to give a percentage of proceeds to help rescue more horses – here is some more info: http://blog.bootstrapadventure.com/5-young-horses-2-old-people-and-a-tent/ I talk about the barefoot issue in my book too – so I am glad I found your website – your book is on my TBR pile!

I do agree with your opinions on barefoot and it is something I often consider for my horse. The things that are currently stopping me from doing so with my boy,

He is not a sure footed horse at all. The slightest bit of wet ground and he slips. I have started to use studs for everything on wet ground, from dressage to xc because without he really slips up. Part of me wants to believe that he would be better without shoes, but getting him comfortable without shoes could be a long process.

He has very sensitive feet. The ground near my Stables is very stony and he doesn’t like to stand on it without shoes, even when he is being shod. If he loses a shoe he is kind of crippled, because even the soft ground has stones in.

Have you for any advice if I was to make the transition? He is currently on a fairly low calorie diet anyway. He has a small feed of low calorie/sugar chaff and has a mixture of hay and haylage (he cannot have just hay as it makes him cough, even if soaked thoroughly. Haylage alone upsets his tummy so we have settled for a mixture). What could I do to make his feet stronger and less sensitive? His feet do grow very quickly, needing to be shod every 4/5 weeks so changes should be noticeable to his feet fairly quickly. I would not want to transition before he is somewhat comfortable.

Thank you, your posts are really interesting to me but I am struggling to find a way to apply them to my own. Thank you again

Hi Charlotte, do you know, I think you’ve done one of the hardest things and that is to reach out and ask for advice. So many people will cling to something, such as shoeing, that is not working very well for their horse and not want to change. It’s a hard step but I really think you have taken the first move towards improving something for your horse. So, advice – join the Barefoot Horse Owners Group on Facebook if you haven’t already and read the posts and answers. Lots of experience there. Post something yourself, ask for help. Read everything you can – Jaime Jackson, Peter Ramey are both very good. If you decide to try barefoot, I advise a barefoot trimmer but seek recommends and get someone who is good. That person should support you through your horse’s transition. There is so much to tell you but I recently wrote a blog with an excellent trimmer and a holistic vet about what you should do in those early stages – so check out my post The Good Bare Guide. You are welcome to find me on Facebook if you want to talk more. Good luck x

So nice to find you. Love and support the work you’re doing! Maybe you’ve stumbled across my The Soul of a Horse which was a National Bestseller in the States and is available on Amazon in the UK. The same discoveries. Interesting that the original title of Soul was The Naked Horse🙂. Do you ever get to the States? – Joe Camp

I do not know if you are aware of a racehorse called Zakatal. He is a barefoot racehorse owned by John Sugarman and David Furman ( i am writing this email ) and trained by Rebecca Menzies. In this calendar year he has won three races, come second in three races, third in one, fourth in another and fifth in one. That is a total of nine races all barefoot.

I am inspired !
I have read quite a bit about barefoot in the last few years including you & Joe Camp, and have been very interested. Little did I know…As an English woman living in Bulgaria I discovered the reality of it all when I bought my little mare nearly three years ago. The definition of “Farrier” in Bulgaria is a man with a hammer, a bag of nails and a macho attitude.
It has taken a lot of time and patience to convince Karina that no-one will hurt or frighten her ever again.
A long story, but I have managed on my own. Now I’m in touch with Ralitsa Grancharova, awaiting a visit from her and Nick Hill.
Thanks to you Linda, I feel i’m not alone.
Kati